Saint Simon the Apostle
Feast Day: October 28th
Sts.
Simon and St. Jude, Apostles
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The name of Simon occurs in all the
passages of the Gospel and Acts, in which a list of the Apostles is given. To
distinguish him from St. Peter he is called (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18)
Kananaios, or Kananites, and Zelotes (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).
Both surnames have the same signification and are a translation of the Hebrew
qana (the Zealous). The name does not signify that he belonged to the party of
Zealots, but that he had zeal for the Jewish law, which he practised before his
call. Jerome and others wrongly assumed that Kana was his native place; were
this so, he should have been called Kanaios. The Greeks, Copts, and Ethiopians
identify him with Nathanael of Cana; the first-mentioned also identify him with
the bridegroom of the marriage of Cana, while in the "Chronicon paschale" and
elsewhere he is identified with Simon Clopas.
The Abyssinians accordingly relate
that he suffered crucifixion as the Bishop of Jerusalem, after he had preached
the Gospel in Samaria. Where he actually preached the Gospel is uncertain.
Almost all the lands of the then known world, even as far as Britain, have been
mentioned; according to the Greeks, he preached on the Black Sea, in Egypt,
Northern Africa, and Britain, while, according to the Latin "Passio Simonis et
Judae" -- the author of which was (Lipsius maintains) sufficiently familiar with
the history of the Parthian Empire in the first century -- Simon laboured in
Persia, and was there martyred at Suanir. However, Suanir is probably to be
sought in Colchis. According to Moses of Chorene, Simon met his death in
Weriosphora in Iberia; according to the Georgians, he preached in Colchis. His
place of burial is unknown.
Concerning his relics our information
is as uncertain as concerning his preaching. From Babylon to Rome and Toulouse
we find traces of them; at Rome they are venerated under the Altar of the
Crucifixion in the Vatican. His usual attribute is the saw, since his body was
said to have been sawed to pieces, and more rarely the lance. He is regarded as
the patron of tanners. In the Western Church he is venerated together with Jude
(Thaddaeus); in the East separately. The Western Church keeps his feast on 28
October; the Greeks and Copts on 10 May.
The
Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII
Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912, Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Text Courtesy of
TraditionalCatholic.net
Sts. Simon and St.
Jude, Apostles
(by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876)
St. Simon, whose
festival the Catholic Church commemorates to-day, was surnamed the Cananaean
or Canaanite, because he was born at Cana, a town in Galilee. In this town,
Jesus wrought his first miracle, by changing water into wine, as is known from
the Gospel. Nicephorus and some others are of opinion, that Simon was the
bridegroom whose wedding our Lord and His holy Mother honored with their
presence, but that he afterwards left his bride with her consent and followed
Christ. St. Jude, the brother of Simon, is called Thaddseus to distinguish him
from the other Jude or Judas' who betrayed and sold the Lord. According to
Nicephorus, Mary Cleophas was their mother, and James the Less their brother.
Other writers say that Simon and Jude were not brothers. The Gospel tells us
that both Simon and Jude were chosen by Christ as Apostles; but when or under
what circumstances this took place, is not recorded, nor have any particulars
of their words and actions been left us. There is, however, not the slightest
doubt that they, as all the others, constantly followed the Saviour, and
although they forsook Him when He was taken prisoner, they had, after His
resurrection the grace to see Him frequently, to be present at His Ascension,
and to receive the Holy Ghost on Pentecost.
When, later, the Apostles separated to preach the Gospel, St. Simon went to
Egypt and St. Jude to Mesopotamia. Both however, were also in other lands, to
preach the word of Christ, and after thus spending 30 years in apostolic
labors, they met again, by divine dispensation, in Persia. On their arrival in
this land, they found the Persian army in the field; for the King had declared
war against India, and was in the act of marching against it. Baradach, the
general in chief, had offered many sacrifices to the gods, desiring to know
the issue of the war; but no answer was given, which had always been given
before, as the Evil spirits spoke through the idols. Hence Baradach, amazed at
such unusual silence, sent to another idol which was kept in a place far from
the camp, and desired to know the reason of it. Satan, answering through it,
said, that the presence of two Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ was the cause
of the silence of the gods, as the power of these two Apostles was so great,
that not one of the gods, until now so greatly honored, dared to appear before
them.
Baradach, having received this answer, had the two Apostles brought before
him. He met them with great manifestations of respect and listened to them
while they spoke to him of the nothingness of the gods which he worshipped. As
he was desirous to know the issue of the war, they made use of the occasion to
show him how false were the words of the idols and hence how groundless was
the notion of their divinity. They bade him propose his questions to the
idols, through the magicians as usual, and told him that they would give his
gods permission to speak. The magicians were ordered to ask the gods, and
returned with the answer, that the result would be a long, bloody, and
disastrous war. The Apostles having heard this, said to Baradach: "Now, great
prince, recognize the falsity and the deceit as well of your magicians as of
your gods. A deputation of the Indians will arrive to-morrow, at this hour, in
your camp, to request peace of you on whatever conditions you may choose to
prescribe." Baradach, surprised at these words, awaited with great impatience
the following day. At the very hour the Apostles had foretold, the Indian
embassy came humbly begging for peace, which was forthwith concluded.
This event was reported to the king, who resided at Babylon. He called the
Apostles into his presence, listened with great attention to their words, and
after having been sufficiently instructed in Christianity, was baptized by his
holy teachers. The example of the king was followed by the whole court and a
great part of the city. After this, the holy men went through the other towns
and villages of the kingdom, everywhere preaching the mysteries and truths of
the Christian faith. Many thousands became converts, only the magicians and
fortune-tellers remained in their blindness, and seeing, with deep resentment,
that they were everywhere despised and derided, they sought means to kill the
holy Apostles. To this end, they excited the inhabitants of a town, which was
far distant from the residence of the king, against the Saints, who had no
sooner arrived there than thay were seized and dragged, the one before an idol
of the sun, the other before that of the moon, and were commanded to offer
incense. The holy men refused to comply with so wicked a demand, saying that
they sacrificed only to the true God; after which they began to preach the
Gospel. But the furious Pagans refused to listen to them, and in their rage,
cut St. Simon asunder with a saw, and beheaded St. Jude. In this manner these
two holy Apostles ended their lives and earned the glorious crown of
martyrdom.
I cannot pass over in silence an event which took place while St. Simon and
St. Jude preached the Gospel. The daughter of a noble Persian became the
mother of a child, and said that a deacon of the Apostles was its father. The
truth of this was not doubted, and the deacon was brought before the king. The
holy Apostles, knowing that he was innocent, went to the king, and desired
that the parents of the slanderer and the child should be summoned. When they
appeared, one of the Saints asked the infant, in the presence of the king and
the parents, whether the deacon was its father. The child answered loudly and
distinctly: "No! the deacon is innocent." The king and all present thanked and
praised the Almighty who had so miraculously saved His servant. The parents,
begging pardon of the latter, as well as of the Apostles, requested that the
child should be asked who was its father, but the Apostles said. " We come not
to accuse the guilty, but to protect the innocent:" This great miracle was not
only instrumental in increasing the esteem in which the holy Apostles were
held, but was also the means of converting many heathens, and strengthening
the faith of those who had already embraced Christianity.
It has further to be remarked that we have, in Holy Writ from the pen of St.
Jude, a short but powerful Epistle, in which he admonishes the faithful to
guard themselves against those who, having forsaken the true Church, preach
heresy; to remain constant in their faith, and to practise diligently all
virtues, especially charity, chastity and purity. Luther rejected this Epistle
from Holy Writ, though St. Augustine had counted it among the inspired books
more than a thousand years before, and also several Councils had declared it
canonical. Without doubt Luther was actuated by the fact that he, and such as
he, are painted with living colors in the same Epistle.
In the life of St. Bernard we find that this Saint had a particular devotion
to St. Jude. He received, with extraordinary joy and veneration, the relics of
this holy Apostle which were sent to him, and, on his death-bed, he requested
that they should be laid on his breast and be buried with him.
PRACTICAL
CONSIDERATIONS.
I. More than thirty years did the holy
Apostles work with unwearied zeal for the salvation of souls. Thousands of
dangers, persecutions, nay, even death they did not fear, bearing everything
joyfully, filled only with the thought of saving souls. What incited them to
this? Doubtless, the love of Jesus Christ, who had ransomed those souls with
His precious blood, and also pity, as they knew that, blinded by their error,
these people would lose eternal life. St. Jude, in his epistle, exhorts us to
have compassion on all those who are seduced by the heretics, and to save them
from the fire, that is, from the fire of hell. "But others save, pulling them
out of the fire; and on others have mercy." (Jude, xviii.) To-day I request
you to have pity on your own soul. "Have pity on thy own soul," says the Wise
Man. (Eccl., xxx.) Your soul has been bought with the priceless blood of
Christ: esteem it accordingly, and take care that the blood of your Saviour
may not have been shed for it in vain. Your soul, in its sin, is in the
greatest danger of being cast into eternal fire. Have pity on it, and drag it
forcibly from the precipice on which it stands. It is your soul, your own
immortal soul, so dearly bought by Christ, given to you to guard and keep it.
If you gain the life to come, your soul will be forever happy; but, if you
lose it, your soul will eternally suffer in hell. Who will be injured by this
but you? Therefore, commit nothing which may draw after it eternal punishment,
and leave nothing undone which may aid you in obtaining the glories of heaven.
It is your soul. "Have pity on your own soul!"
II. St. Simon is brought to the idol of the Sun, and St. Jude to that of the
Moon, with the command to sacrifice; and, when both declare that they
sacrifice only to the true God, both suffer martyrdom. Can you also say, with
truth, that you sacrifice only to the true God? How many hours, how much
labor, trouble and care have you sacrificed to vanity and pride, to the world,
the flesh and the devil? Do you consider that less punishable than to offer a
few grains of incense to a lifeless image? Oh! learn to despise this way of
conducting yourself, and endeavor to live in such a manner that you may
truthfully say that you offer sacrifice to the true God alone. Offer to the
Almighty, early in the morning, all your thoughts, words and actions, all your
cares and labors, and all that you may have to suffer during the day. During
the day, offer to Him the incense which is most agreeable to Him,--that of
prayer and good works. Offer Him your self-abnegation, the control of your
evil inclinations, especially anger, impatience, and curiosity. Offer your
self-conquest, by forgiving those who wrong you; by abstaining from unchaste
and slanderous conversation; from intemperance in eating and drinking,--in one
word, from everything displeasing to Him. Offer to Him, especially at night, a
repentant and contrite heart, a heart ready to serve Him zealously and
constantly." A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a contrite and humble
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalms, 1.). "It is a wholesome
sacrifice to take heed to the commandments, and to depart from all iniquity."
(Eccl., xxxv.)
Text and Picture courtesy of Catholic Harbor
of Faith and Morals